That's Not How You Treat a Lady
by FrostPrince
Summary: A fight scene involving a certain anthropomorphic bat, romantic tension and clichéd remarks galore!


As we stood meters apart, facing each other on the decrepit street, I thought to myself…

Among my many no-doubt OUTSTANDINGLY witty insults, I did NOT expect "Knucklehead" to tick him off.

"What's your problem with me?!" Knuckles barked in offense. His anger was both laughable and admittedly sexy. Why I fell for the bad boys, I had no clue. All that Overlander talk about how 'opposites attract' was complete bullshit.

"Oh come oooon," I dragged out, batting my eyelashes (pun totally intended) in a playful manner (and a lascivious manner, but I wouldn't let my beloved Echidna hunk feel entitled to arrogance by knowing about my intentions). I waved my finger lazily in the air. "You know I was just teasing."

"UGH, I'm sick of all your 'TEASING'!" Knuckles clenched his muscular hands into fists.

For a second I thought I felt genuine intimidation.

Then I remembered who I was talking to.

"You know, maybe if you just stopped sticking your long echidna nose into things, I wouldn't have to make fun of you…"

He charged.

The unexpected assault forced myself into a backflip. I came to a rest in the air, my small yet powerful wings able to sustain my weight as I witnessed my previous standing space take a punch from my rival.

"I imagined getting to know the feel of your fists on me, but this isn't how I imagined it would go down," I taunted.

"Oh, zip it, Batty!" Knuckles snapped, leaping upwards.

"Fire with fire wooon't woo-oork," I chuckled. My retaliating kick to Knuckles' head sent him back to the ground as I levitated further. Sometimes his persistence really annoyed me, but the beautiful thing about my façade was that it was nearly unbreakable when faced with things like this.

I would enjoy crushing Knucklehead into the ground in a symphony of clichéd passive-aggressive glory.

"Come down here and fight me!" Knuckles demanded. "Or are you gonna run away like the girl you are?"

"The way to a woman's heart is NOT through sexist remarks," I stated in amusement. "Also, what do you take me for? An idiot?"

Knuckles smirked. "A little, yeah. Probably because I know you won't mind me joining you up there."

I rolled my eyes at his humor attempts, and then stared as Knuckles ran to a broken lamp pole, climbed it, and jumped off.

He came soaring towards me.

"I almost forgot you could glide," I 'tsked' as he collided with me. Knuckles grabbed onto my ankle with one hand and tried to hit me with the other.

"Rude!" I shouted, swaying side to side both out of imbalance and to purposely shake him off. I kicked out, but Knuckles moved his head and blocked with his free hand. We descended to the road hard, both of us hitting and rolling in opposite directions. Knuckles got to his knees, but I gained footing faster. I shot forward, my wings's backwards flapping surging me towards Knuckles. I entered a spiral motion, flipping around so that my feet would end up hitting that bone-headed child square in his handsome face.

Knuckles raised his arms and crossed them to cancel my attack. He grabbed me by both ankles and spun me around 'till I was certain I'd lose the caviar I had an hour ago. I was launched onto a house's dead front field, itchy brown grass caressing me under my damage-sustained body.

It was on.

"HIYA !" I rolled backwards, and then rolled forward quickly to reclaim my stance. I went in for another hit, jabbing at Knuckles' stomach. He jumped back, but I jammed a swift leg towards his legs. He lost balance and wobbled, letting me uppercut him in the jaw.

"If you didn't want to seem like a loser, you shouldn't have tried fighting me," I mocked, a little more acid in my voice than what I usually allowed. It was almost tragic, fighting this hunky but irredeemably moronic guy. Why couldn't he satisfy himself with being the naïve, loyal friend who owned a giant Emerald I lusted for? Life wasn't fair.

Knuckles staggered backwards, held his jaw, and struck back. I recoiled late, both hands shoving me back firmly. He swung a sideways fist, knocking my shoulder. I kicked upwards and connected somewhat, but Knuckles blocked the rest as he punched again. It grazed my face but was enough to ignite rage in my eyes.

"You'll pay for that!" I growled, punching Knuckles' face roughly. At least his thick skull was useful for absorbing impact, but another punch made him cry out in pain. I grabbed his shoulders to knee him, but Knuckles beat me to it. I exhaled in shock as he punched my chest.

I wouldn't have any more of this. I tried to elbow him but missed, so I kicked him in the thigh. Knuckles made a grab for me, but I got down and roundhouse kicked his miserable legs out from under him. Knuckles fell to his back. I flew up and hovered over him, landing with a fist pound to his chest.

"If you believe in those gender rules, then you should know it's lame to hit a lady," I hissed.

"You're no lady," Knuckles snickered.

His snicker made him cringe in pain. It was almost satisfying.

I grabbed his neck and thorax and lifted him into the air.

"Yep. Definitely no lady," Knuckles continued to chuckle.

I stepped on his toes and grabbed his forearms to lock his limbs. Leaning close, I whispered, "You're sad and depraved, you know that?"

"Yeah." Still chuckling. "Buuut I've gotten further with you than any girl before. So that counts for something, right?"

"Punching my boobs doesn't count," I grinned.

"Whatever floats your boat." Knuckles shrugged meekly given his current position. I suddenly felt awkward just holding him there. The street was deathly silent. The night was too open.

I kissed him.

…

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…

…

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He kissed me immediately in return.

…

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…

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…

And that just kind of…happened.

When we pulled apart, Knuckles was smiling like an idiot. I regarded him curiously.

"Finally," Knuckles breathed.

"That was more-so out of pity than anything else," I informed him…unable to contain a smile, myself.

"I'm a Knucklehead, I'll admit it," he laughed in an illegally sexy fashion. "But I'm apparently YOUR Knucklehead."

"Rule one about dating me," I warned jokingly. "Don't do that."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I was bored and in need of entertainment. Plus I was dying to write something, so this kind of just happened. XD I don't necessarily ship Rouge and Knuckles, but why not? Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this. ^u^


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